Sequential Exchange Monte Carlo: A Sampling Method for Bayesian Data Analysis without Parameter Tuning

Fuente: arXiv
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Autori principali: Nabika, Tomohiro, Nagata, Kenji, Katakami, Shun, Mizumaki, Masaichiro, Okada, Masato
Natura: Preprint
Pubblicazione: 2025
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author Nabika, Tomohiro
Nagata, Kenji
Katakami, Shun
Mizumaki, Masaichiro
Okada, Masato
author_facet Nabika, Tomohiro
Nagata, Kenji
Katakami, Shun
Mizumaki, Masaichiro
Okada, Masato
contents Bayesian data analysis is widely used across many disciplines, and representative examples in materials science include spectral analysis and sparse modeling. In such applications, the underlying models often become complex and yield multimodal posterior distributions, making efficient sampling from multimodal distributions essential. Replica exchange Monte Carlo has been commonly employed for this purpose; however, its performance strongly depends on difficult parameter tuning, such as the design of the inverse temperature. In this study, we comparatively investigate sampling algorithms that require fewer tuning parameters for Bayesian data analysis in materials science. Specifically, we compare three approaches: non-reversible parallel tempering (NRPT), sequential Monte Carlo samplers (SMCS), and a newly proposed method, sequential exchange Monte Carlo (SEMC). Our results indicate that NRPT can require computational time for parameter tuning, while SMCS requires careful adjustment of the number of MCMC steps at each temperature level. In contrast, SEMC achieves robust convergence across a range of problem settings without additional tuning, demonstrating its practicality for Bayesian inference.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2502_17858
institution arXiv
publishDate 2025
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Sequential Exchange Monte Carlo: A Sampling Method for Bayesian Data Analysis without Parameter Tuning
Nabika, Tomohiro
Nagata, Kenji
Katakami, Shun
Mizumaki, Masaichiro
Okada, Masato
Information Theory
Bayesian data analysis is widely used across many disciplines, and representative examples in materials science include spectral analysis and sparse modeling. In such applications, the underlying models often become complex and yield multimodal posterior distributions, making efficient sampling from multimodal distributions essential. Replica exchange Monte Carlo has been commonly employed for this purpose; however, its performance strongly depends on difficult parameter tuning, such as the design of the inverse temperature. In this study, we comparatively investigate sampling algorithms that require fewer tuning parameters for Bayesian data analysis in materials science. Specifically, we compare three approaches: non-reversible parallel tempering (NRPT), sequential Monte Carlo samplers (SMCS), and a newly proposed method, sequential exchange Monte Carlo (SEMC). Our results indicate that NRPT can require computational time for parameter tuning, while SMCS requires careful adjustment of the number of MCMC steps at each temperature level. In contrast, SEMC achieves robust convergence across a range of problem settings without additional tuning, demonstrating its practicality for Bayesian inference.
title Sequential Exchange Monte Carlo: A Sampling Method for Bayesian Data Analysis without Parameter Tuning
topic Information Theory
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2502.17858